U.S. patent number 6,267,721 [Application Number 09/335,969] was granted by the patent office on 2001-07-31 for method and apparatus for stress relief system.
Invention is credited to William F. Welles.
United States Patent |
6,267,721 |
Welles |
July 31, 2001 |
Method and apparatus for stress relief system
Abstract
A stress relief system having a headset to be removably worn on
a person's head and a portable electrical wave generator assembly.
The left and right speakers of the headset are connected to an
electricity powered device for playing recorded music. The
electrical wave generator assembly is powered by a 9 volt D.C.
battery and it has two closed electrical circuits for transmitting
that receive an electrical wave from the electrical wave generator.
Each of these circuits has a light emitting diode (LED) that
radiates light in the infrared and visible nanometer range. The
structure for supporting the respective LED's would be a
predetermined length of double stranded wire having sufficient
flexibility so that it can be bent to direct the light at
preselected points on a patient's hands that are identified by the
Koryo Hand Therapy Meridians. A finger loop strap is used to locate
and support the lights on the user's fingers.
Inventors: |
Welles; William F. (Pine
Valley, CA) |
Family
ID: |
23314017 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/335,969 |
Filed: |
June 18, 1999 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
600/26; 602/45;
607/88 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
21/00 (20130101); A61N 5/0619 (20130101); A61M
2021/0027 (20130101); A61M 2021/0055 (20130101); A61N
2005/0645 (20130101); A61N 2005/0651 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
21/00 (20060101); A61N 5/06 (20060101); A61M
021/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;600/26-28
;607/45,88,46,93 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gilbert; Samuel G.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Logan, II; Charles C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. The stress relief system comprising:
an electrical wave generator assembly having means for emitting an
electrical wave pattern in the 2 cycles per second to 200 KHZ
cycles per second range; said electrical wave generator assembly
having a housing with an output jack;
a source of electrical power connected to said electrical wave
generator assembly;
a first elongated light emitting diode (LED) having a front end, a
rear end, a body portion, an elongated first tubular sleeve
connected to said rear end of said first LED; said first tubular
sleeve having an outer diameter greater than the outer diameter of
said first elongated LED to form a shoulder at their juncture;
first closed loop electrical circuit having a front end for
transmitting an electrical current from said output jack of said
electrical wave generator to said rear end of said first LED and
back to said output jack; said first closed loop electrical circuit
having a preselected length L1;
a transversely extending first finger loop strap having a first
end, a second end, an outer surface and an inner surface; a
longitudinally extending elongated first alignment sleeve having a
front end and a rear end is secured to said inner surface of said
first finger loop strap; said first alignment sleeve removably
receiving said body of said first LED until said rear end of said
first alignment sleeve rests against said shoulder of said first
tubular sleeve; first hook and loop fastening means on said first
and second ends of said first finger loop strap for removably
attaching said first loop fastening means to a patient's finger; a
first elongated attachment tab having a front end, a rear end,
attached to said first tubular sleeve; and a second hook and loop
fastening means located adjacent said front end of said first
elongated attachment tab that is detachably secured to said first
hook and loop fastening means on said first finger loop strap for
preventing said first LED from pulling out of said alignment
sleeve;
a second elongated light emitting diode (LED) having a front end, a
rear end, a body portion, an elongated second tubular sleeve
connected to said rear end of said second LED; said second tubular
sleeve having an outer diameter greater than the outer diameter of
said second elongated LED to form a shoulder at their juncture;
a second closed loop electrical circuit having a front end for
transmitting an electrical current from said output jack of said
electrical wave generator to said rear end of said second LED and
back to said output jack; said second closed loop electrical
circuit having a preselected length L1;
a transversely extending second finger loop strap having a first
end, a second end, an outer surface and an inner surface; a
longitudinally extending elongated second alignment sleeve having a
front end and a rear end is secured to said inner surface of said
second finger loop strap; said second alignment sleeve removably
receiving said body of said second LED until said rear end of said
second alignment sleeve rests against said shoulder of said second
tubular sleeve; third hook and loop fastening means on said first
and second ends of said second finger loop strap for removably
attaching said second loop fastening means to a patient's finger; a
second elongated attachment tab having a front end, a rear end,
attached to said first tubular sleeve; and a second hook and loop
fastening means located adjacent said front end that is detachably
secured to said first hook and loop fastening means on said first
finger loop strap for preventing said first LED from pulling out of
said alignment sleeve; and
a head set having a left ear speaker and a right ear speaker; said
head set adapted to be worn on a person's head; an electrically
powered device for playing recorded songs; and means for
electrically connecting said electrically power device to said
speaker of said head set.
2. A stress relief system as recited in claim 1 wherein said source
of electrical power is a battery.
3. A stress relief system as recited in claim 2 wherein said
battery is a 9 volt D.C. battery.
4. A stress relief system as recited in claim 1 wherein said first
and second LED's are unidirectional lights.
5. A stress relief system as recited in claim 1 wherein said LED's
are red light emitting LED's.
6. A method for reducing the stress level of a patient comprising
the steps of:
a) connecting an electrical wave generator assembly to a first
closed loop electrical circuit for transmitting an electrical
current to a first LED that only emits an electrical wave pattern
in the 2 cycles per second to 200 KHZ cycles per second range; said
first closed loop electrical circuit being entire outside the body
of said patient; a transversely extending first finger loop strap
having a first end, a second end, an outer surface and an inner
surface; a longitudinally extending elongated first alignment
sleeve having a front end and a rear end is secured to said inner
surface of said first finger loop strap; said first alignment
sleeve removably receiving said body of said first LED until said
rear end of said first alignment sleeve rests against said shoulder
of said first tubular sleeve; first hook and loop fastening means
on said first and second ends of said first finger loop strap for
removably attaching said first loop fastening means to a patient's
finger; a first elongated attachment tab having a front end, a rear
end attached to said first tubular sleeve; and a second hook and
loop fastening means located adjacent said front end of said first
tubular sleeve that is detachably secured to said first hook and
loop fastening means on said first finger loop strap for preventing
said first LED from pulling out of said first alignment sleeve;
b) connecting an electrical wave generator assembly to a second
closed loop electrical circuit for transmitting an electrical
current to a second LED that only emits an electrical wave pattern
in the 2 cycles per second to 200 KHZ cycles per second range; said
second closed loop electrical circuit being entire outside the body
of said patient; a transversely extending second finger loop strap
having a first end, a second end, an outer surface and an inner
surface; a longitudinally extending elongated second alignment
sleeve having a front end and a rear end is secured to said inner
surface of said second finger loop strap; said second alignment
sleeve removably receiving said body of said second LED until said
rear end of said second alignment sleeve rests against said
shoulder of said second tubular sleeve; third hook and loop
fastening means on said first and second ends of said second finger
loop strap for removably attaching said first loop fastening means
to a patient's finger; a second elongated attachment tab having a
front end, a rear end, attached to said second tubular sleeve; and
a fourth hook and loop fastening means located adjacent said front
end of said second tubular sleeve that is detachably secured to
said third hook and loop fastening means on said first finger loop
strap for preventing said second LED from pulling out of said
second alignment sleeve;
c) directing said first LED and said second LED at preselected
Koryo Hand Therapy Meridian points on the hand's of a patient;
d) placing a headset on the head of a patient with the left and
right speakers of the headset being positioned on the ears of a
patient; said headset being connected to an electrically powered
device for playing recorded music;
e) turning on the power of the electrically powered device for
playing recorded music so that a patient hears the music; and
f) turning on the power of the electrical wave generator to send
electrical current to said first and second LED's causing them to
emit an electrical wave pattern in the 2 cycles to 200 KHZ cycles
per second range at the preselected points on the Koryo Hand
Therapy Meridian points of a patient's hands to reduce their stress
level.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing
stress relief for humans. In industrial nations, the pressure of
one's job, the requirement for sufficient money to support one's
self and one's family and the desire for material wealth has placed
an increased stress level on many individuals. Smoking and drinking
alcohol and other vices tend to increase the stress level.
Increased stress levels can be harmful to a person's health and can
result in heart attacks, strokes and assorted other ailments. Some
ways to reduce stress are exercise and meditation.
Traditional American medicine has recently been supplemented with
alternative types of treatments. One of the alternative treatments
is acupuncture, which is a traditional form of treating people used
in the Far East for thousands of years. Books about acupuncture
describe numerous meridians that pass through the human body. Along
the meridians are points that can be stimulated to promote
healthful results.
Three of the meridians that travel along the arm of a person to
their head are the triple warmer (TW), the small intestine (SI) and
the large intestine (LI) meridians. Each of these meridians has a
beginning point (BP) and an end point (EP). These points are also
called sing points or acubane points. The reason the triple warmer
meridian, the small intestine meridian and the large intestine
meridian have special neurological significance is they all begin
in the hands and end in the head. The fact that they end in the
head means that they have input into the brain or neurology. Any
point on these meridians can be used to positive advantage,
especially if directed up the head, but for convenience the
following points are most important for each meridian.
TW1 and TW23 are the respective beginning and end points on the
triple warmer meridian. TW1 (also known as GUANCHONG) is located on
the ulnar side of the ring finger, 0.1 cun posterior to the corner
of the fingernail. When this acupuncture point is actuated,
headaches and hysteria and other symptoms can be alleviated. TW3
(also known as ZHONGZHU) is on the dorsum of the hand between the
forth and fifth metacarpal bones. Activation of this point often
helps to alleviate headaches. TW23 ends at the end of the
eyebrow.
Small intestine point 1 (SI1) is located at the ulnar side of the
small finger, about 0.1 cun posterior to the corner of the
fingernail. Activation of this point helps to alleviate headaches
and other symptoms. The small intestine point 3 (SI3) is located at
the end of the transverse crease proximal to the 5th
metacarpi-phalangeal joint when the hand is half clinched.
Activation of this point helps to alleviate stiffness or rigidity
of the neck and also headaches. Small intestine point 19 (SI19)
ends in front of the ear.
The large intestine point 1 (LI1) (also known as SHANGYANG) is
located on the radial side of the index finger, 0.1 inch posterior
to the fingernail. The large intestine point 4 (LI4), (also known
as the HEGU), is located on the middle of the second metacarpal
bone, on the radial aspect. Actuation of this point alleviates
headaches and other symptoms. Large intestine point 20 (LI20) ends
lateral to the base of the nose.
Some of the prior art stress control structures and methods are
illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,410 of Frenkel et al and U.S.
Pat. No. 5,242,376 of Shealy et al. The Frankel et al patent uses a
pair of eyeglasses having a circuit for monitoring a physiological
function of the eyeglass wearer corresponding to a predetermined
stress level. The circuit contains an alarm which emits an auditory
and/or visual signal in response to a change in said physiological
function.
The Shealy et al patent includes a relaxation device that includes
a portable mask having a flashing light source. When the mask is
positioned on the subjects head a flashing light, having a
preselected color is emitted into the subject's eyes. The color is
selected to increase beta endorphins into the blood stream of the
subject.
Another method and apparatus for stress relief is described in
applicant's previous U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,173. It has a square wave
generator that is connected to two separate closed circuits each
having a light emitting diode at their ends. Each of these circuits
has a human body ground member electrically connected to the wave
generator. When the respective human body ground members are in
contact with the human body, the square wave electrical signal will
pass through the person's body between the respective human ground
members. In a second embodiment,the human ground member is the
temple member of an eyeglass frame.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel method and
apparatus that is for stress relief that does not require the
electrical circuits to use the human body as a ground.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel method and
apparatus for stress relief that has been designed to function on a
patient's hands where the points are on the Koryo Hand Therapy
Meridians.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel method and
apparatus for stress relief that utilizes Koryo Hand Therapy
meridians that are approximately three times as powerful as the
conventional acupuncture point of the body utilized by U.S. Pat.
No. 5,643,173.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel
method and apparatus for stress relief that is portable and easily
used by a patient.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel method
and apparatus for stress relief that doesn't introduce electricity
into the body. Electricity introduced into the body has
disadvantages (i.e. for pacemakers in the heart).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates broadly to the field of systems and machines
that employ minute illumination impulses for stimulating or
inducing therapeutic action for health minded individuals.
In using the stress relief system, the electrical wave generator
assembly would have the male terminal of the flexible wire inserted
into the output jack of the electrical wave generator assembly
housing. The free ends of the wires would have their respective
finger loop straps secured to the respective left and right ring
fingers of the patient's hands. The LED's would be positioned where
they direct their light rays either on the triple warmer, small
intestine, or large intestine points as they are identified on the
Koryo Hand Therapy Meridian chart. The most effective points are
L3, H3 and D3. These are source points and are effective for
balancing the energy of the micro meridians. The headset would be
placed on the patient's head. Concurrently, the switch on the wave
generator housing would be actuated along with turning on the
switch of the CD player. The light rays from the LED's stimulate
the micromeridian points on the patient's hands and seem to
resonate into the person's mind to allow a state of ease and
relaxation to come over the body. At this same time the music on
the CD disk will be transmitting sound to the patient's left and
right ears. on the (H) small intestine meridian the primary
statement used is "I deeply accept myself just the way I am" or "I
deeply accept myself in spite of . . . . The inputing of
self-acceptance allows past trauma of all sorts to be released by
the individual. The technique used for this is based on the work of
Roger Callahan, Phd.
Using the (L) Triple Heater meridian allows the brain to be more
directly accessed. People can think of a memory while the light is
on L3 and they circle their eyes, hum or count. These techniques
help clear the memory.
Another novel application of this product and the (L) or Triple
Heater meridian is to establish a whole brain connection. The
technique involves having the light on (L3) while the individual
anchors his fingers in his ears with his index fingers and
alternatively taps the temporal region of the head with the middle
finger and then taps the thumb with the middle finger (See FIG. 4).
This tapping is accompanied with circling the eyes and walking in
place with or without the music. This technique establishes whole
brain connections. Once the brain is whole and connected this
connectiveness can be built on by stressing the body that is
dis-connected in any way and then tapping as described before. This
technique of stressing and reconnecting by tapping can be
demonstrated effective by checking and rechecking muscle strengths
before and after the tapping. A weak muscle that is created after
stressing that becomes strong after tapping is evidence of a neural
re-connection.
Other statements such as those below would be received from the CD
player: (1) I let go of all anxiety worry and fear and take in
peace, rest, and calm, (2) I want to be 100% healthy on all levels,
(3) it is all right if I am 100% healthy, (4) it is safe to be 100%
healthy on all levels, (5) I deserve to be 100% healthy on all
levels, (6) It is okay to be 100% healthy on all levels, etc.
By repeating these statements while having the light input from the
LED's, these statements quickly become congruous with the belief
nature of the individual. Statements 2-6 above fall into a category
of statements of incongruence with health that are called
reversals. Reversals are negative reverse beliefs that we hold onto
to the detriment of our mental and physical health.
The symptoms of headaches, irritability, and blurring vision
associated with the aforementioned micromeridians are definitely
mental symptoms which is why stimulating these micromeridian points
in combination with voice reinforcement, seem to have a synergistic
effect to work most effectual for clearing stress and negative
mental beliefs.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded front perspective view of the components of
the novel stress relief apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a schematic electrical diagram of the electrical wave
generator assembly circuit;
FIG. 3 illustrates the Koryo Hand Therapy Meridians of a hand;
and
FIG. 4 illustrates a person using the finger loop straps on her
ring fingers to establish a whole brain connection.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The novel stress relief system will now be described by referring
to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings. The stress relief apparatus is
generally designated numeral 10. A second major component of the
system is the headset 12. Headset 12 has a left ear speaker 14 and
a right ear speaker 16. An electrical wire 18 connects headset 12
to an electric powered device for playing a recorded music, such as
a CD player 20.
Electrical wave generator assembly 30 has a housing 32 with output
jacks 34 and 36. A pair of LED's each having a body portion 48a are
illuminated when switch 40 is actuated. A pair of electric
conductor wires 42 have a male terminal 44 on one end that is
detachably inserted into output jack 34. The conductor wires 42
have a length L1 that is in the range of 24 to 56 inches.
Electrical wires 42 each make a closed loop circuit with a red
light emitting LED 48 at each of their outer ends. LED 48 emits
light only in the infrared and visible light spectrum range. Knob
37 is used to adjust the frequency of the flashing lights and it is
detachably inserted into socket 39.
Wires 42 have a tubular sleeve 56 on them adjacent LED 48. A Velcro
attachment tab 51 has a front end 50 and a rear end 52. Rear end 52
is secured to tubular sleeve 56. Finger loop straps 54 have an
alignment sleeve 55 secured to their inner surface for removably
receiving the LED's 48 and keep them aligned on the respective
X-axes. Velcro tab 51 is pressed against Velcro material on the
outer surface of finger loop straps 54 to hold the LED's 48 in
alignment sleeves 55.
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the electrical circuit of
the electrical wave generator assembly 30. It has a PC board 70
having an electrical wave generator circuit mounted thereon that is
powered by a 9 volt DC battery 72. The electrical wave pattern can
be varied from a frequency range of 2 cycles per second to 200 KHZ
per second and still be effective. Output jacks 34 and 36 are
electrically connected to circuit board 70. Male terminal 44 is
detachably inserted into output socket 34 to provide current for
the two LED's 48. A potentiometer (not shown) could be plugged into
output socket 36 in order to vary the shape of the electrical wave.
A knob 37 is shown plugged into output socket 39 in order to vary
the frequency of the flashing lights.
FIG. 3 illustrates the Koryo Hand Therapy Meridians. The L (Triple
Warmer), H (Small Intestine) and D (Large Intestine) all begin on
the hand and end in the head. The end digit of the ring finger is
analogous to the hand and the end digit of the middle finger is
analogous to the head. These micromeridian points from the Koryo
chart are approximately three times more powerful than traditional
acupuncture points because the hand has huge representation in the
brain mapping (homongulous). Because of the fact these points have
huge representation in the brain, it is possible to accomplish more
with less stimulation. Thus only light stimulation of acupuncture
points on L (Triple Warmer) H (Small Intestine), and D (Large
Intestine) combined with sound stimulation through the ears or a
piezo electric transducer right on the skin. Light stimulation of
the L,H,D micromeridians with sound stimulation of the brain
accomplishes a synergism that allows statements such as "I deeply
accept myself" to be received more readily by the body. The sound
therapy we feel is stimulating the hypothalamus or the brain body
interface. Sounds that work best are high frequency sounds or
pieces of music with high frequency sounds.
FIG. 4 also illustrates a person using the finger loop straps 54 on
their ring fingers to establish a whole brain connection.
* * * * *